Reactions to familiar and novel objects in infant monkeys with neonatal temporal lesions

Adult monkeys with late temporal lobe damage are known to touch and mouth objects compulsively, even unknown objects. To determine whether infants with early temporal damage display this symptom as well, 9-month-old rhesus monkeys with neonatal ablations of either the medial temporal lobe or inferior temporal cortex were exposed to four objects, two familiar and two novel. All operated infants were less active/more withdrawn than controls and showed neither exaggerated object manipulation nor hyperorality. Furthermore, like controls, they touched novel objects less than they touched familiar ones. Thus, infants with neonatal medial or inferior temporal ablations did not display the compulsive exploration evidenced after similar lesions in adulthood and retained some ability to detect novelty despite their known memory impairments.     

Treatment of calcifying tendinitis of the shoulder by acetic acid iontophoresis: a double-blind randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of acetic acid iontophoresis on the treatment of calcifying tendinitis of the shoulder. DESIGN: Double-blind randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Ambulatory academic hospital in Quebec, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-six subjects with a calcifying tendinitis of the shoulder. INTERVENTIONS: Subjects were randomized into 1 of 2 groups: physiotherapy during 6 weeks (10 sessions) plus acetic acid iontophoresis for the treatment group (n=18) and sham acetic acid iontophoresis for the control group (n=18). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), shoulder range of motion (ROM); and radiologic evaluation of shoulder calcifications. RESULTS: Nine patients dropped out, leaving 27 assessable subjects for analysis. Interim analysis showed that, in both groups, treatment led to improvement, as measured by the SPADI score (P=.004), ROM of the shoulder for abduction (P<.001), internal rotation (P=.001), external rotation (P<.001), and the mean number of calcifications per subject (P=.010). Although no formal significant intervention effects (P=.13) were found for the primary endpoint (SPADI), exploratory analyses suggest a greater improvement in the treatment group (P=.001) than in the control group (P=.33). CONCLUSIONS: Despite a trend toward greater improvement in the SPADI score in the treatment group, the use of acetic acid iontophoresis and physiotherapy for the treatment of calcifying tendinitis of the shoulder did not result in better clinical and radiologic effects than those observed in subjects treated by physiotherapyalone.     

Schools, health literacy and public health: possibilities and challenges

Health literacy is a concept that can be widely embraced by schools. Schools throughout the world contribute to the achievement of public health goals in conjunction with their educational commitments. In this paper, the interface between a school's core business of education and public health goals is identified, and examples provided in the area of nutrition demonstrating how these links can operate at school level. The structure and function of the health promoting school is described and the author proposes that there is a very close connection between the health promoting school and the enabling factors necessary in achieving health literacy. Major findings in the literature that provide evidence of good practices in school health education and promotion initiatives are described. Also, those factors that make schools effective and which facilitate learning for students are identified. There is a substantial overlap between the successful components of a health promoting school and effective schools. This enables schools to potentially achieve all three levels of health literacy, including level 3-critical health literacy. However, there are three challenges that must be addressed to enable schools to achieve this level: the traditional structure and function of schools, teachers practices and skills, and time and resources. Strategies are proposed to address all three areas and to reduce the impediments to achieving the goals of health literacy and public health using the school as a setting.     

Bronchial angiography: a report of 21 patients

Angiographic studies of the bronchial and other systemic thoracic arteries were requested by referring physicians in 21 patients, in 18 cases because of hemoptysis. Selective catheterization was carried out in 18 of the 21, and in an additional two patients the bronchial arteries were identified by thoracic aortography. Five examples of effective therapeutic embolization are discussed. Bronchial angiography and embolization appear to be of value in the diagnosis and treatment of hemoptysis.     

Linear and nonlinear analysis of blood flow in healthy subjects and in subjects with Raynaud's phenomenon.

The paper presents analyses of the dynamics contained in the blood flow signals measured on healthy subjects and on subjects with primary Raynaud's phenomenon. Different signal processing methods are presented and discussed. The dynamics was evaluated in the time and frequency domains and in phase space. Additionally, changes in the basal value during temperature provocation were studied using multiresolution analysis. The analyses demonstrate differences between the blood flow dynamics in healthy subjects and subjects with Raynaud's phenomenon. Moreover, the observed decrease in the amplitude of oscillation in regions approximately 0.04 Hz and approximately 0.1 Hz suggests an impairment in the neurogenic and the myogenic regulation of the blood flow. The administration of nifedipine in subjects with Raynaud's phenomenon results in an increase in the basal value and in the amplitude of the blood flow component oscillating with the heart rate. However, it does not restore the dynamics to that found in healthy subjects.     

Spectral analysis of laser-Doppler perfusion signal measured during thermal test.

The method of spectral analysis of laser-Doppler perfusion signal measured during thermal test is proposed. During three 20 min phases with 40, 5, and 40 degrees C of thermal test laser-Doppler perfusion signal was recorded. For each signal phase frequency spectra were calculated using the FFT method. Quantitative parameter Spectral Factor for results evaluation was proposed. In total 94 patients were measured: 69 with Raynaud's phenomenon and 25 normal subjects. Additionally in 18 Raynaud's patients the influence of Nifedipine was studied. Results suggest that proposed parameter is able to differentiate between Raynaud's patients and normal subjects and that is useful for evaluation of Nifedipine effectiveness. However, further studies are needed to improve the method to differentiate between primary and secondary Raynaud's patients.     

Conditions underpinning success in joint service-education workforce planning

Vancouver Island lies just off the southwest coast of Canada. Separated from the large urban area of Greater Vancouver (estimated population 2.17 million) by the Georgia Strait, this geographical location poses unique challenges in delivering health care to a mixed urban, rural and remote population of approximately 730 000 people living on the main island and the surrounding Gulf Islands. These challenges are offset by opportunities for the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) to collaborate with four publicly funded post-secondary institutions in planning and implementing responses to existing and emerging health care workforce needs.